Foreign Ignorance of the United States

In my field of work, I have gotten to know many people from foreign countries all over the world. Many economists come to the USA to go to school or to work. Several of the economics departments in the USA have a majority of their faculty originating from other countries.

One thing I have noticed is that almost all of the new arrivals are shocked to learn that they have serious misconceptions about the United States. Since their main source of information have been their local media, or sometimes leftwing US media outlets like CNN, they have come to view the USA through the biased and distorted prism of leftist ideology.

For example, a recent poll of 2,000 UK citizens revealed that a majority of Brits believe that polygamy is legal in the USA. Also, many foreigners believe that our lack of a federally-administered national socialist health insurance system means that many Americans have no access to health care at all. When foreigners arrive here and discover that we don't have millions of uninsured people dropping dead in the streets or desperately trying to flee the country, they are stunned.

From the Jerusalem Post, we read about a misconception by Shmuel Rosner:

Rasmussen polled Americans on the Gaza War and found this:
Forty-four percent (44%) say Israel should have taken military action against the Palestinians, but 41% say it should have tried to find a diplomatic solution to the problems there, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.
This striking split might be explained in terms of two factors. First: for America, this is the era of diplomacy. Obama has successfully convinced Americans that the time for talking has arrived and the age of aggression is over. The poll shows the results of this new American ethos as applied to the realities of the Middle East.

Schmuel, you don't have the slightest idea why Obama won in November. In spite of the fact that many Republicans had serious misgivings about McCain, he was ahead of 0bama in the polls until the Wall Street meltdown in September and the foolish federal bailout of many financial institutions. Many Republicans stayed home rather than vote for McCain, who supported the bailout.

The success of the surge in Iraq has taught many Americans that military force, when properly applied, can be quite effective against those who would do us harm.